The Masseuse and The Manager
by CorderoyPants
Summary: Gaara Sabaku is the leader of Suna Trading Inc., one of the most powerful companies in the world. However, with the job comes an enormous amount of stress and back problems. So Gaara goes to a spa to sort it out. So begins the tale of Massuse & Manager.
1. Suna Trading Inc

**AN:** Hey. Readers of my previous fics, please accept my humble apologies and a plate of virtual cookies *proffers*.  
New readers; welcome to my literature and I'm sorry if I dissapoint you in the future by not updating often/at all. HOWEVER, my laziness is not the main subject here. The story is!

So, brief introduction - This will be Gaara/Lee, with hints of other pairings, although I will not let them take over. This chapter is mostly an introduction and definitely the most Gaara-centric of the story. Sorry, I'm minorly obsessed. Vocabulary will be more (forlackofabetterword) advanced than my other writing. Just because I want to try something serious for a change.  
That being said - on with the show!

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The Masseuse and The Manager  
****Suna Trading Inc.**

Gaara stared with his typical deadpan expression as one of his underlings tried to explain why the latest shipment reports were running late. The employee stuttered and stammered as Gaara's eyes bored holes straight through his mediocre-at-best soul. The poor chap was sweating buckets by now.  
Eventually, Gaara took pity on- no, that's not right. Gaara was completely incapable of feeling such human emotions as _pity_. Ahem. Eventually, Gaara got sick of the senseless drivel being fed to him and said with as smooth as silk and loving as sandpaper:  
"Have them in by Monday morning."  
"Yes sir! Thank you sir! You won't be dissapointed sir!" the conversation continued like this for the next two minutes until, Gaara's patience millimeter thin, the employee was dismissed… to put it mildly. A quaking middle manager scurried down the hallways outside Gaara's office.  
The redhead frowned, closed his eyes and massaged his temples in irritation. This was the price of being the highest ranking manager in the highest ranking shipping company in the world. A reputation similar to that of the Boogie Man; an income that was longer than his PIN number and equally gargantuan amounts of stress. He hadn't had more than five hours sleep over the past week. Gaara pressed the small button on his personal intercom.  
"Matsuri." He said in his flat voice.  
_"Yes, Mr. Sabaku?"_ the digitally filtered voice of his receptionist answered.  
"Coffee; double cappucino, no milk."  
_"Right away, Mr. Sabaku."  
_ He removed his finger and reclined in his executive chair in a half-hearted attempt to relax. The insomniac closed his eyes again and turned to face the dying sun outside his window.  
At the tender age of eighteen, Gaara Sabaku, the youngest of the Sabaku children had taken over his father's company, Suna Trading Incoroporated. His father had been brutally assasinated by some thugs hired by their rivals and both his siblings had refused to take on the job; Kankuro, his brother, was a succesful comedian that worked with puppets – he had no idea at all about anything to do with business; Temari, his sister, quite content with her post as lobbyist also wanted nothing to do with management. This left Gaara. Poor, young, defenceless, psychopathically inclined Gaara. In charge of one of the biggest buisnesses in the world.  
A few employees had called it Armageddon and jumped ship. Quite bad for them, since Gaara's no-nonsense attitude and, for lack of a better word, _people skills_ had turned the sinking ship into the most powerful economical armada one could imagine.  
Which was good, because Gaara could now help out his friend Naruto (the one who had marginally humanized him) capture the no-good bastard he was looking for. Detective work required ridiculous funding, exactly what Gaara had.  
But it was bad for Gaara. His body felt like an exceptionally tightly wound clock – super efficient, sometimes too fast and just about to explode from tension and leave a mess of cogs and sprockets and other strangely named curly things on the floor.  
Kankuro frequently joked that he would probably die of a heart-attack before he turned twenty-five. Temari frequently threatened him that he would probably die of a heart-attack before twenty-three. Twenty year-old Gaara said that the odds were that he was going to outlive both of them since he was the youngest, so what were they yammering about?  
Gaara opened his eyes, as his secretary entered and placed his coffee reverently upon his desk and left the room quietly. Gaara glanced at the clock. It was 5:17 pm. At six he had arranged a dinner with his two siblings. In thirteen minutes, he would pack his briefcase, nod goodnight to his secretary and stalk past the many cubicles and the inhabitants that feared him so.  
"Hmm." Gaara mused to himself quietly, sipping at his coffee. It was black and bitter – _like his soul!_ his employees would sometimes whisper – and it reminded him of the wonderfully awful stuff that the nomadic tribes of his homeland made out of beans roasted in the midday heat and dates and (rumour had it) scorpion's pincers. Desert coffee_ (1)_ was terrible and gritty and very _very_ strong; it had to be in order to keep the camels in line after dark. The corporate alpha-male hummed very lightly to himself, pondering all things that reminded him of home.  
The long hot days, where one rose only in the late afternoon and slept a couple of hours after dawn. The rainy season, when it would pour torentially for a week and all the dormant seeds would burst into life and the desert became a garden. The blistering sun. The gently whispering, shifting sand that whipped around him like teasing friend asking to be chased. His lips, parched to the point that they bled. The kohl rimmed eyes_ (2)_ of his reflection in a silver ceremonial dagger, to shield their gaze from the sun. The smell of henna on sister's hands, the sugary sticky dates that he would often steal from his neighbour's plates at banquets. The reverance of life-giving water. The inherant and unforgiveable danger that was the desert.  
And small Gaara, a child that had thirsted more than the dried _wadis_ _(3)_ and had been more deadly than the roughest _shamal_ _(4)_.  
The cruelty of his family towards the boy, the result of culture and superstition, had turned him into a miniscule demon. Thankfully, when his father had decided to found Suna Trading Inc., they had left it all behind for the modern world. Gaara had been sent to boarding school and he had been humanized marginally by a pesky blonde kid who was four years older than him but acted like a pre-teen. That was Naruto… his friend.  
Mr. Sabaku picked up his courtesy telephone and dialed a number. The phone rang twice.  
_"Hello, detective Naruto Uzumaki speaking."  
_"Naruto."  
_"Gaara!" _ Naruto's crackly voice chirped across the landline _"Hey, what's up?"  
_"How would you like to come to dinner with my family tonight?"  
_"Sure thing!"_ Naruto shouted exuberantly. Gaara was holding the phone a good ten centimetres away from his face for a reason. _"Hey, can I bring a couple of my co-workers along?"  
_"Certainly." Said Gaara curtly. Naruto was a fantastic social butterfly who had the ability to make friends even if the person had been a jerk to him. Which explained how Gaara and Naruto became friends. "We are going to Oasis. Meet me there at six."  
_"Alright. See you at six."_ There was a click as Naruto hung up.  
Gaara replaced the phone and began to pack his briefcase.

The Oasis resteraunt prided itself for being one of the swankiest establishments in town. It was suitably themed like an Oasis, with date palms growing at the entrance and grand clay urns lining the corridors. It also happened to be Gaara's preferred establishment whenever he wanted to have a social dinner. The waitresses were garbed in loose harem pants and wore curled sandals. The elaborate lanterns cast multicoloured spotlights on the patrons and the smell of lamb and cinnamon was thick in the air. And best of all, they served traditional desert coffee and dates with every meal.  
Naruto spotted Gaara and his siblings at the entrance. Temari had her golden hair loose around her shoulders and was wearing a long lilac evening gown. Kankuro was wearing a simple black pants and shirt combo, the amethyst tie highlighting the purple paint that he always wore in patterns around his eyes. Gaara was wearing his working suit – simple black and rust red making his chronically pale skin look even paler and the kohl on his eyelids darker.  
"Gee, you all look glammed up for the Oscars." Naruto said sheepishly looking down at his own ensemble – a cotton suit bought on sale with a glaring orange tie. "I wish you'd told me it was going to be this swanky, Gaara. I might have dressed more appropriately." The blond chuckled.  
Gaara simply gave him a deadpan look that could have meant anything. Temari came to the rescue of the conversation.  
"So, Naruto. Who are your friends?" she asked, elegant hand on hip.  
"Ah, right!" Naruto gestured at his two colleagues. "This is Shikamaru Nara." He indicated the pony-tailed man who looked as if he were half asleep. The sleepy man nodded his head backwards in greeting. "And this is Hinata Hyuuga." He gestured at a timid looking woman with long dark hair. She gave a quick smile and wave with a barely audible _"It's nice to meet you."_  
"Shikamaru, Hinata –" Naruto continued. "These are Temari, Kankuro and Gaara Sabaku." The other three gave their own gestures of greeting.  
"So, who's hungry?" Kankuro said with a wry smile as silence crept over the group again. Naruto immediately made a ruckus of clapping hands on shoulders and great sweeping gestures that were supposed to encourage the group. Temari scoffed lightly at the childish display. Gaara lead the group inside, silent as always.

The group found themselves inside a small room that was reserved for Gaara. Beautifully embroidered pillows lay scattered across the low couches, ornamental table in the center of it all. Then the awkward process of seating themselves began. Naruto plopped himself down on Gaara's left, Hinata next to him. Kankuro claimed the redhead's right and Temari made herself comfortable between him and the drowsy Shikamaru. Appetizers and alcohol were called for and soon the tension in the room dissolved into amiable tipsiness.  
Except for Gaara, who had coffee.

"Honestly, bro!" Kankuro exclaimed after a deep swig. "You're way too tense." He poked as his brother's shoulder.  
"You said it, Kank." Naruto turned himself slightly to face Gaara. "Honestly Gaara, you should take a break from your job. It's killing you man." The blond glared at his friend hazily. "When was the last time you slept, eh?"  
"Wednesday." Gaara said quietly, taking another sip of coffee.  
Shikamaru and Hinata who had been conversing quietly about work both looked up in shock.  
"It's Friday." Shikamaru said unbelievingly. "You haven't slept for twenty-four hours?"  
"Didn't Naruto tell you, Nara?" Temari stated formally. "Gaara's an insomniac." She took another sip from her own glass, as if to wash the bitterness of the word away.  
"Call me Shikamaru," the pony-tailed man said quietly, gazing at the red-headed man. "Naruto did tell me, but I thought he was just exaggerating."  
Temari smiled into her drink. "You're right.. Naruto does exaggerate frequently."  
"Hey!" Naruto frowned across the table. "I do not exaggertate. I'm a truth-teller." He said with a slight slur.  
"Uhm," Hinata said quietly. Everybody suddenly turned their eyes to the shy woman. She blushed. "Uhm, I.. uhm. H-have you tried sleeping pills?" she stammered, averting her gaze to the table.  
"They don't work." Gaara replied equally soft. "I have been sent to many doctors. They say it would recquire about the same amount of tranquilizer to subdue a rhinocerous to send me to sleep for a full night." He looked up at the woman. "Unfortuneatly, that could also result in my possible death."  
A silence stole across the room. Naruto nervously turned his eyes to his drink.  
"Oh." Hinata let out a mouse-like gasp. She fidgeted. "Uhm.. what about physiotherapy? To relieve stress?" She looked doubtful at her own words.  
"That's right." Said Shikamaru, patting Hinata encouragingly on the shoulder. "You used to work at a spa, didn't you Hinata?" The rest of the room (excluding Naruto, who already knew) quickly grasped the fact that the sleepy man was not infact as dozy as he looked.  
"Oh yeah." Naruto said, turning to Hinata. "That was before you helped me find the culprit from the arson case." The blond gave a mile-wide grin. "If it weren't for your eyes, we would have never found out that it was the store's owner." Hinata gave a small smile at being praised by her Boss. The rest of the room (excluding Naruto, who had no idea) quickly grasped the fact that Hinata had a thing for Naruto.  
"Physiotherapy, you say?" Temari asked the shy girl, wondering if she was on to something.  
"Ah, yes." Hinata nodded, turning her attention away from Naruto. "I used to see lots of high ranking buisnessmen and women come in. The stress had given them lots of back problems and sometimes they couldn't sleep because of it." Her confidence growing as she continued. "After a few sessions of intense physiotherapy, they were absolved of their back problems and said that they slept much better. Some even said that their social lives had improved from it."  
Temari eyed Gaara. "Hmm." She pursed her lips in thought.  
"You here that, red?" Kankuro said boisterously. "Better sleep and social life." He chuckled and ruffled his younger brother's hair, something that he wouldn't have done if sober.  
Gaara gave him a steely glare. Kankuro withdrew his hand with a gulp.

Naruto was too busy praising Hinata on her brilliance to notice the exchange. "Hinata, you're a genius! I've been trying to get Gaara to relax for _years_ and here you got it figured out in a couple of minutes! Not only are you the fiercest female detective out there, but you're also a great counsellor!" He chattered on excitedly, oblivious to Hinata's rapidly reddening face. "Gee, I sure envy the guy that's lucky enough to get you for a wife." He chuckled and turned to Gaara, asking him rhetorical questions about his colleague's brilliance.  
Hinata swooned lightly.  
Shikamaru pressed a refilled glass into her hands.  
She took a steadying gulp and thanked him.  
Shikamaru said nothing and focused on the conversation that was happening in front of them.  
"So, Gaara, whatcha say?" Naruto grinned at his friend, one arm slung around the other's shoulder. "Are you gonna do this the easy way or the hard way?"  
Gaara arched an invisible brow.  
"Are you going to go to physiotherapy by yourself, or do we have to drag you there by the tie?" Temari asked, a smirk playing across her lips.  
Gaara merely gazed into his coffee cup.  
The others waited with bated breath.  
Was the red-headed insomniac going to go for the advice or would he brush it off again and remain an unhealthy wreck for the rest of his quite possibly shortened lifespan?  
"Alright." The kohl rimmed eyes flickered over to Hinata. "What is the number of the spa?"

The rest of the room burst into celebration as Hinata quickly scribbled down the details on a piece of paper from her purse. Naruto cheered and toasted glasses with Kankuro exuberantly. Temari gave Hinata a grateful smile and asked the by-standing waiter to bring them their food. Shikamaru gave out a small yawn and let a satisfied smirk play across his lips.

Several hours later, Shikamaru was shouldering a drunken Naruto. Hinata was trailing slightly behind them, trying to find her cellphone in order to call a cab. Temari stopped the dark-haired girl for a moment.  
"Thanks" she said sincerely.  
"Ah, no problem." Hinata responded, she bowed her head slightly. "It was a pleasure meeting you."  
"Likewise." The three siblings said simultaneously. Kankuro waved goodbye and headed off to catch a taxi off the road. Hinata nodded again, and jogged off to catch up with Shikamaru and Naruto.  
Gaara was of course the last one out. He and Temari walked silently to the car park.  
"I'm glad you took Hinata's advice."  
Gaara glanced at his sister. There was a crease of worry between her finely arched eyebrows and her lips were tugged slightly to the right. Gaara concluded that Temari Was Concerned for his Health.  
"I have nothing to lose from it." He murmured.  
"Except perhaps those bags under your eyes." Temari chuckled and nudged her brother with an elbow.  
"Hn." Was Gaara's only reply.

* * *

**AN:** So, what do you think? I'm sorry that my syntax structure was so terribly redundant. I began nearly every sentence with a noun. D:  
Also, lots and lots of reference to desert culture - I live in one so most of it is accurate.*dork*

(1)I've rarely tried arabic coffee but my dad tells me that it is gritty, nasty stuff and you are better off with something like Somalian or Columbian coffee. But I guess if you've been drinking it since childhood, it must hold some nice memories.  
(2)People in the desert _do_ line their eyes with kohl to protect them from the sun. So, kinda slap-dash excuse for Gaara wearing eye-liner to work.  
(3) A _wadi_ is something like a quick-sand riverbed. Whenever it rains really heavily, these "riverbeds" soak up all the water deep into the ground. Then, days, sometimes weeks later, all the water comes back up to the surface and creates a flash flood. It can wreck you pretty badly if you get caught in it and afterwards, all the water sinks back down underground.  
(4) Shamal is the local (to me) word for a sand storm. They are pretty hefty. Once, at a sporting event I was volunteering for, a shamal blew straight through the stadium - it was gone after about five minutes, but it kicked up MASSIVE amounts of sand - so anyone who was eating got sand in their food. When you get caught in a big one, you could get sandpaper'd pretty badly or alternately shocked from the static. Nasty, eh?

SO. Review please and CMS readers, I shall whip my ass into gear pretty soon- the KH DS game should provide good inspiration.  
Thank you for reading. :D


	2. The Lotus Spa

**AN:** I updated.

Amazing, right? I had most of the chapter written already, since this was actually going to be the first chapter of this fic.... but I decided to add a prologue on Gaara.  
This chapter features Lee, although Gaara kinda steals the spotlight. Enjoy.

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The Masseuse and The Manager  
****The Lotus Spa**

It was relatively dark inside, the flickering scented candles being the only light source. It was also relatively quiet, except for the oriental-inspired mood music that played throughout the dim hallways. The Lotus, which was the spa's symbol, was emblazoned on the screen doors and a large ornamental version of it was also embedded in the wooden floor. There was one decorative waterfall behind the counter, to give waiting customers something interesting to look at. The rest of the spa was overall rather minimalistic. Gaara approved. He was not fond of places that were too gaudy in their presentation. More often than not in those establishments, the service was worse than the décor.  
"Welcome to the Lotus Spa, may I be of assistance?" the counter girl smiled at Gaara. She was wearing a white kimono-like garment with the Lotus insignia on the left. Her brown hair was styled into two buns.  
"I made a reservation for nine o' clock." He responded. The girl nodded and looked towards the computer underneath the counter.  
"Mr. Sabaku?" she asked. Gaara nodded. "Right this way please."

Gaara followed the girl with buns in her hair through the dimly lit corridors. She stopped in front of one of the screen doors and tapped softly. Gaara stood by expectantly.  
_"Yes?"_ A voice called through the door. It was surprisingly muffled.  
"Lee," the girl replied. "Your nine o' clock deep tissue is here."  
_'Lee.'_ Gaara noted his name. _'If he is good, I may book him again.'_ Gaara was not overly fond of new experiences. If he had to go through with them, he liked to have _some_ control over the situation. If this physiotherapy deal was going to be a regular thing, then Gaara would prefer sticking to a known masseuse.  
There was a start behind the door and small amount of scuffling. _"One moment please!"_ the voice that was now Lee called out.  
A short while later, the door slid open and Gaara now had a face to put the name to. And what a face; Lee was tall, fairly pale and had the glossiest black hair that Gaara had ever seen. Even in the candle-light it shone brilliantly. Gaara stared, only the subtlest hints of surprise gracing his icy features.

Lee, thoroughly ashamed at making his customer wait, bowed very low.  
"Please forgive my tardiness."  
Gaara nodded his head slightly. Lee sprang up promptly and handed a soft white towel to Gaara, then ushered him into the room.  
"Please make yourself comfortable." Lee said to the back of Gaara's head. "I will return in a few minutes."  
Gaara nodded again. The screen door rolled shut behind him. The redhead paused and looked at his surroundings. Just as the outside corridors had been lit with candles, so was the room. It was covered in dark-wood paneling, another Lotus flower painted on the one wall. In the center was the padded bench with the headrest at one end. There was a small rack on the wall opposite the Lotus, which Gaara assumed was for his clothing. Yes, that must be it. He was glad that he had looked up some of the intricacies of spa-behaviour before booking.  
Gaara removed his shoes, then socks and placed them neatly in one basket. Next he removed his shirt, tie and trousers; folding them and placing them in a basket next to his shoes. He paused.  
_'Do I remove my underwear?'_ He wondered. He glanced at the white towel that Lee had handed to him earlier. _'_I_ suppose that means yes.'_ Gaara nodded to himself.  
He removed his underwear and tied the soft towel around his waist. The downy fabric tickled against his skin. The redhead let out a small noise. He stroked the soft fabric against his thigh in wonder. This was nothing like the scratchy polyester and cotton-mix suits he was accustomed to wearing. It was like he was wearing melting butter. So soft and smooth and warm and-- Gaara scoffed at the thought. Wearing butter? That was the kind of crack-pot idea that _Naruto_ would come up with.  
He clambered onto the table and positioned himself so that he was lying with his face in the cushioned headrest, arms either side his body.

Lee opened the screen door quietly. His customer appeared to be seasoned spa-goer, by the way he had placed his clothes in the baskets designed for them. He closed the door behind him and approached his customer quietly. He noticed that there were goose pimples on the man's back.  
"Are you cold, sir?" Lee asked respectfully.  
Gaara grunted affirmative. Lee fiddled with the thermostat until he got another satisfied grunt from Gaara telling him it was enough. Lee took a deep breath and flexed his fingers slightly. _'First, make a preliminary check of the customer's muscles before diving in.'_ He chanted in his head. Lee stood on one side of the table and gently ran his fingers across the pale skin of Gaara's back.  
_'Shit!'_ Lee swore inside his head. He ran his hands over Gaara's back again, a little harder this time. To make sure he was right.  
_'Shit.'_ Gaara suppressed a shiver. The warm hands on his back felt good, even better than the softness of the towel. He gritted his teeth and tried to stop himself from arching into the touch. _'This is no time to be acting like some stray cat.'_ He chided himself.  
In the mean-time, Lee was busy panicking over the state of Gaara's back. He gently tapped at the muscles between the red-head's shoulder blades. It was almost as hard as rock. He brushed his fingers up and down over the white expanse of skin. _'Here.. and there!..'_ Lee touched and tapped at Gaara's skin from neck to the small dimples at the base of the spine. Almost everywhere he touched he could feel a lump of hardened muscle underneath his fingertips. _'That must be over fifty knots!'_ Lee fretted inside his head. And his customer looked so young, too. _'What has he been doing that has caused so much strain on his body?'_  
Lee cleared his throat nervously. "Erhm. Is it your first time having a massage, sir?"  
"Yes." Gaara replied. He did feel slightly more relaxed after the rub-down that he had been given. He certainly felt warmer.  
Lee coughed again. "Pardon me, sir. What is your occupation?"  
"I am the executive manager of a shipping company." The redhead vaguely wondered why he was being asked these questions.  
Lee furrowed his brows and let out the small sigh of someone who has their work cut out for them. "It must be a highly stressful job." He muttered and wiped a trickle of sweat with the back of his hand.  
"What was that?" Gaara asked, craning his neck slightly to look at the masseuse.  
Lee squirmed mentally underneath the cool gaze of his customer. He licked his lips nervously and tried to remember which part of his training addressed the issue of What to Do When Your Customer Has Severe Back Problems and They Seem to Be Unaware of The Dangers of It. Failing to find a the appropriate subcategory in his mental FAQ, Lee troubleshooted with honesty.  
"Sir, you have the most severe case myofascial trigger points I have ever seen."  
Gaara stared at him with the same gaze of all managers in the world when they are presented with technical jargon instead of what the problem was and what it required to be solved.  
Lee wilted and tried again.  
"Your back is covered in more lumps of constricted muscle than I have ever seen in somebody so young as you, sir."  
Gaara understood this, but he didn't see why the masseuse appeared to be in such a state of panic. His experience as a manager apparently had just as much use out of the office as in it. "I have come here to have this problem fixed by you. Are you telling me you can't fix it?"  
"No sir." Lee replied immediately. "I can fix it sir, howe—"  
"Then fix it." Gaara said, lying back down.  
"Yes sir." Said Lee. He winced in oncoming empathy. "But this will hurt. A lot."

Lee tried the best he could to loosen each knot as gently as he could. He carefully rubbed in the pungent tiger balm into each lump before twisting his thumb against the grain of the muscle. He pinched up the neighbouring muscles, flexed his fingers along the flesh then released and pressed down with the heel of his hand. Gaara groaned lightly under Lee's capable fingers.  
The process had been going on for over fifteen minutes and Lee had barely scratched the surface of the problem. Undoing knots was tricky at best, but this was nigh on impossible. Good thing that Lee loved a challenge. He just hoped that his customer wouldn't badmouth the Lotus because of the pain untangling knots created.  
Gaara felt… indescribable. The feeling of those warm hands against his cold skin, the smell of the tiger balm penetrating his nostrils, the agony and the relief that came with each pinch and release… It was simply indescribable. His back ached worse than it had ever before, but that was okay because it was a good ache. Kind of like the ache Naruto had given him when the blond had gone missing for a week because of some super undercover mission to infiltrate a gang only to pop up again and act like nothing had happened. Gaara groaned again as Lee pulled apart the clenched muscles in his back. _'Similar… but completely different.'_ Gaara thought to himself through gritted teeth.

Lee was making steady progress now, even though it had been almost an hour now. The dark-haired man wiped the sweat from his brows with one arm. So far he hadn't caused his customer too much pain, and the minor knots were now successfully subdued. This left the larger, harder knots close to the shoulders and spine. _'Oh dear..'_ Lee traced the outline of the biggest one on the right shoulder.  
"Sorry, sir." Lee said as he placed his elbow on the knot and did a ninety-degree twist in to the muscle.

A hoarse scream ripped through Gaara's throat as pain washed through him. Lee tenderly rubbed the afflicted muscle, trying to soothe the pain away as best he could. The young man's body quivered underneath his hands, breath rattling and heavy with half-choked sobs. Lee waited until the breathing was no longer laboured before he tentatively asked "Would you like me to stop, sir?"

"No." Gaara's voice sounded more like a growl. The redhead twisted his head so that he could look at Lee directly. "Keep going, Lee." He commanded. The masseuse gulped and nodded. Gaara sunk down into the padded bench a little more. Nobody disobeyed Gaara Sabaku's orders.  
Lee pressed three fingers into the dip underneath the shoulder blade. The young man sure had an intimidating look, Lee thought as he massaged the tense tissues into submission. _'And his voice…'_ A small shiver ran up Lee's spine. That was a voice he had often heard when being laid off for a job. Or threatened to at least. He paused, one hand migrating to the crook between shoulder and neck. _'He called me Lee.'_ Lee's hands unwound another knot successfully. _'I've never had a customer call me by name… How did he know my name?'_ The masseuse furrowed his impressive eyebrows and continued to detangle the muscles of his master's back. Those thoughts would have to wait, he mused. The remaining knots were the toughest and would require brute force to convince them to unleash their hold. He winced apologetically as he dug his elbow into the pale flesh once more.

Through the next half of an hour, Lee pummeled Gaara's back into shape. As the minute hand drew closer to twelve, Lee began to lessen the pressure in his fists. At first the digging pressure subsided to a forceful push that rippled the muscles like sand under wave. Then the push diminished into a rub, fell back into a stroke and ended with Lee feathering his callused fingers down Gaara's spine. Exhausted by the pain, Gaara dozed on the masseuse table. Lee dimmed the lights slightly, then exited the room to fetch some tea for his client.  
Gaara barely stirred as the sliding door squeaked shut.

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**AN:** No footnotes, sorry to say. The terminology was explained in-story, so I didn't really feel the need to put them in. :D

Much thanks to raccoonwithaspoon, whose awesome reviews inspired me to upload this at long last. Thank you so much.  
The next chapter will not be up for a long time, I'm afraid.. what with me going off Naruto. I kinda lost interest after Deidara died. :/  
Maybe I'll get back into it once the Kazekage shows up again.


End file.
